Talk:Miles Hollingsworth III/@comment-3575890-20150617082728
Bringing back this character study I wrote because I feel inclined to justify my reasons for why I love Miles (and Matlingsworth) so: At first, Miles just came off to me as being your typical spoiled rich kid -- flirts with every girl within a mile-radius, parties hard, and flaunts his wealth. I thought' "feh!" Even in his debut scene I just rolled my eyes and thought the worst of the character. But no. It was soon apparent to me that I had harshly prejudged the boy because he actually has a great deal of depth. He's this vibrant personality full of life, wit, and energy, BUT beyond that surface image is a very dark and troubled boy who dabbles in frivolity and hedonist practices in order to suppress the overwhelming hurt and rage bubbling just beneath the calm and collected surface. I'll tell you exactly why Miles has accumulated so many fans this soon. He's a very complex fellow. Much like my boy, Eli, he is bi-fucking-polar and I am not referring to the medical terminology. I mean his characterization is bisected right down the middle. There's the divisions of the good and the bad all blurred together into one hot mess that is our boy here. On one hand he is reckless, but also conscientious in how he safeguards his emotions and his heart; insensitive, but then also very in tune with the feelings of others and has a lot of compassion in his heart; says rude, thoughtless things, but then can also be incredibly thoughtful; self-centered, but yet also generous to a fault; arrogant, but then also very insecure and unsure of himself; sarcastic, and yet genuine; comes off as uncaring, but actually cares way more than he wants anyone to know; immature, and yet evolved well beyond his years. Do you see a paradoxical pattern formulating here? With how he lashes out and behaves like a Grade-A jackass at times, and can be a vindictive little bitch as well, it's easy to see how people just think he's an asshole, but past instances speak the contrary. There is a great reserve of kindness, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity under that veneer of snark and arrogance. I love this kid because in spite of how much of a jerk he can come off as, he actually really is the sweetest boy. I did not start to love Miles until I saw him give a complete stranger a concert pass so she wouldn't have to be stranded outside; not blame her for both times she got him in trouble with his overbearing, abusive father; give her his credit card as nonchalantly as someone would give out pocket change so she could get home safely; appear genuinely hurt as hell when she stopped by his house to return said card to him and not to actually visit him like he had hoped, because in his mind his wealth is all he is ever good for to anyone and no one other than his best friend actually gives a legitimate fuck about him; go out of his way to make Tristan feel accepted by him; know exactly to give Maya and Tristan the space they needed even if he had to walk back by himself in the rain without an umbrella. In general, the way he surprises everyone with random spurts of kindness for nothing in return is something to be admired. He has a bad reputation and a penchant for trouble due to his strained relationship with his father, but he's a GOOD KID in addition to being a three-dimensional, multi-faceted, interesting character. That is why he has fans. Now that I've cleared the air on that, I can't express my disagreement enough with the contention that Miles is the worst thing for Maya. Miles may be a mess, but so too is Maya, and who better for her than someone who can identify with and relate to her in a similar vein? I can see how people may think Miles would be a bad influence, but he hasn't once pressured her into doing anything she isn't comfortable with and he's not the type to do that to her anyway. He may have issues with himself but he doesn't impose them on other people. For instance, he didn't coax Maya into drinking at his dad's campaign party. She came to him with the intention to act out and she ended up returning home with a different outlook and attitude towards her mother, which means that even when Miles is a potentially bad influence, he is not. I can tell you exactly why Miles is better for Maya than Zig. The very root of Maya's instability is the death of her first love that Zig is FOREVER tied to. History can not be rewritten. Zig will always be Campbell's nemesis and a factor in his suicide. The only way Maya can properly move on from her past is to start fresh with someone who has no ties to the very event that turned her life upside down in the first place. Miles doesn't have that kind of tainted history with her. There is a squeaky-clean slate to work with, and that is what Maya needs more than ANYTHING, if not Zig as well! A FRESH START. Maya can embrace and kiss Miles without guilt because he was not her departed love's nemesis. She can look at him without being reminded of the single most traumatic experience of her life. She can be with him without thinking, "What would Tori think of me? What would Cam think of me?" She was able to MOVE ON with Miles because he has zero connection to Campbell and his suicide. She could also confide in him every lingering painful thought, insecurity, and worry, and he can understand because he too has his demons and problems to work on. He has helped her to let go and enjoy life again - something she needed more than anything else at the point in time he came into her life. In a combination of those things, he is who breathed the life back into her. Okay, no. Maya can't work some miracle reversal of Miles's emotional state of being, but I'll be damned if she can't and hasn't helped him. Let's flashback to the aftermath of Miles's altercation with his dad. "I'm fine. Never been better." WHO have we heard utter these words before? Why does this all seem so painstakingly familiar? Because it is. Miles is frighteningly similar to my boy Campbell in how self-destructive he is. He is arguably worse off in regard to that he exhibits the most detrimental of behaviours and coping methods. Campbell occasionally allowed himself release, but Miles refuses to let anything out or even acknowledge there is a problem with him. He lets those pent-up feelings fester until he can't feel anything at all; until he's numbed by alcohol, or some random hook-up, or some other way to amuse himself. Whatever the method, the primary goal is always the same, which is to distract himself from what he's feeling. Trouble doesn't find Miles. He intentionally CAUSES it because it is his only way of release. And no one notices or cares because it is much easier to dismiss him as merely a problem child than actually try to understand him. The DTC even does this. There's no healthy in-between. He either feels nothing at all, or everything at once. Regardless of either, that overwhelming sense of loneliness and worthlessness is always present. You can see it in his defiance toward his father in his drinking at the campaign party; the hurt in his downcast expression when he snatches his credit card back from Maya and shoves it in his pocket, his hopes that she came to see him completely dashed; his expression of resign when his father forcibly takes him by the arm and all but drags him into the house right in front of his friends so he can hurt him some more; his then jumping into the pool to intentionally start a scene in what will certainly not be his last act of rebellion; the offence he takes to Tristan's accusations of homophobia and his determination to make friends with him; the unmistakable flicker of hurt in his eyes with every rejection from Maya. The definitive difference between these two boys though, in terms of their pain, is that Campbell's condition was exacerbated by being ripped away from a loving and supportive family, while Miles's depression is brought on by the fact that he doesn't have a loving supportive family whatsoever. Cam missed his family so much that it drove him into a depressive downward spiral and thus Maya couldn't help him because she couldn't provide him with the very thing he needed and missed the most, which was the love of his family. Miles's depression on the other hand, stems from total absence of familial love. There is in fact nothing to miss, because he has not actually experienced the love of a family; has not experienced the sensation of being loved and cared for. Miles is completely deprived of real affection...or was until he met Maya, and then almost immediately after his behavior changed. He stopped abusing narcotics and throwing himself into self destructive situations. He ACTUALLY settled down, and it was all because of Maya's influence; because she inspired him to want to be a better person, but more to the point - because he wasn't so depressed anymore. There was no mistaking the twinkle in his eye, the warmth in his smile, the jaunt in his step. He was deeply in love and genuinely HAPPY. He still made mistakes along the way of course, but Rome wasn't built in a day either. He had much to learn and what matters is that he WAS learning - slowly but surely. He always owned up to his mistakes and unlike a certain other contender for Maya's affections, proved he ACTUALLY learned from them by refraining from repeating them. And when all is said and done, at the center of his shit storm of problems is crippling loneliness. Specifically, he yearns for the love and acceptance of his father, but generally, he just wishes to feel cared for. PERIOD. That is why as soon as he lost Maya he went right back to his old behavior. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why and piece together that indisputable correlation between Maya and his positive character growth. Look at my boy, Eli. He had problems far greater than him. In the end, he got better all on his own, but it is an indisputable fact that Clare played a role in the process. Companionship can only do so much, but it can also make the world of a difference. It is true that only Miles can better himself, but he has to want to and that is where Maya comes in. Now it has never been Maya's responsibility to "better him." It is no one's. But there is no denying that she is a positive influence on him. There is no denying that she has played an influential role in his growth and progression. There is no denying that her love, acceptance and understanding had encouraged him to WANT to better himself. I don't think people realize that Maya can, to a reasonable extent, help Miles when in fact all he essentially wants is love, companionship, acceptance, and understanding, and the lack of all of those elements in his life is precisely why he lashes out in the first place. Maya can't fix a void that nothing other than the love of a father can fill, but what she can do is cover those needs all the same whether that be as his friend or his girlfriend. And she HAD for the entire duration of their relationship. I love Miles because he's complex and intricately flawed. I love him because he's painstakingly human and relatable. I do not love a false surface image of illusory perfection. I love him because he's not perfect. I do not blindly worship him or glorify his faults. I see them and I love him IN SPITE of them because that is what being a true fan is about. Acknowledging that character for ALL THEY ARE - all of their pieces, no matter how jagged they may be - rather than transfixing selectively on only certain parts of the puzzle. I see ALL OF MILES and I love and accept ALL OF HIM.